Installing from the .msi file
Published 28 M 2013
You can install Redgate products from the Microsoft Installer files, rather than using the Redgate installer .exe. This may be useful if you need to distribute software over an enterprise network.
To install from the .msi file:
You can adapt this procedure for your particular networked environment.
You can use Windows Server Group Policy to distribute software across a site or domain. Redgate .msi and .mst files are compatible with the use of Group Policy objects (GPOs). For more information about using Windows Server Group Policy, see Group Policy (TechNet article).
1. Install prerequisites
Some Redgate products require prerequisites that aren't installed when you use the .msi file. Make sure any prerequisites listed on the Requirements page are installed.
2. Extract .msi files from the .exe
The Redgate installer (.exe file) contains the .msi installation file. To extract the .msi file from the .exe:
- Download the installer for the product you require.
- Create a new folder to extract the .msi files to. For example, Redgate installers.
If you need to install the product on several computers, use a network share that's accessible from all of the computers. - Start a command prompt and navigate to the folder where the installer is located.
At the command prompt, type
<installer name> extract "<full path to folder for .msi files>"
then press Enter. For example:C:\Downloads>SQLToolbelt.exe extract "C:\Redgate installers"
The installer starts in extract mode. This may take a few minutes.
- Select the products you want to extract and click Next to continue through the wizard.
- On the final step of the wizard (Customizing the installation folder), specify the installation path. The path is included in the .mst file installation parameter and will be used when you install the product.
- Click Extract to extract the files for the selected product, including the .msi and .mst files, to the location you specified at the command prompt. If you've selected multiple products, a separate sub-folder is created for each product.
The product is not installed at this stage.
To view the .msi and .mst files, use Orca.exe, which is included in the Windows SDK. For more information, see Orca.exe (MSDN).
Editing the .msi file isn't recommended, and isn't supported by Redgate.
Install the product
After you've extracted the .msi installation file, use msiexec to install the product. To install the product on several computers, you may want to create a batch file to run the following commands:
- Start a command prompt with administrator privileges.
- If necessary, map the network share to a spare drive letter.
At the command prompt, type
msiexec /i "<full path to .msi>" TRANSFORMS="<full path to .mst>" ADDLOCAL=ALL
then press Enter.
For example:msiexec /i "C:\Redgate installers\SQL Compare 10.3.8.406\SQLCompare_10.3.8.406.msi" TRANSFORMS="C:\Redgate installers\SQL Compare 10.3.8.406\SQLCompare_10.3.8.406.mst" ADDLOCAL=ALL
Make sure you use the correct .msi and .mst files for your computer's bitness.
The product is installed in the location specified in the .mst file. The installation is not silent, but no user interaction is required.
For more information about the command line options available for msiexec, see Windows Installer Command-Line Options (MSDN).